When Naegi left Ogami's room, he expected to see an empty corridor – but to his surprise, Kirigiri stood leaning against the wall just around the corner. As soon as the door had closed, she fell into step beside him, not saying a word as she slowed her pace to his tired steps down the hall.
Naegi frowned to himself as he considered the girl beside him. It had definitely been a huge relief when she'd decided not to be angry with him any longer. Arguing with his friends had always given him a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, one that had only gotten more intense now that they were trapped in this killing game. And now, with Togami angry at him, it was nice to have at least one person still on his side.
But as much as he hated the idea of starting another fight with Kirigiri right on the heels of their last one, he didn't think he could just stay quiet. He stopped his slow progress, just before they passed through the gate to the other half of the first floor, and looked up at Kirigiri's impassive face.
"Why did you say all those awful things to Ogami?"
Kirigiri stopped as well, a faint frown crossing her face as she looked down at him. She stared at him silently for so long that he started to think that she wasn't going to answer. Maybe he really had made her angry again, and she was about to storm off without a word like she'd done in the music room when he'd refused to tell her about seeing Ogami and Monokuma fighting.
But before he could think of a way to soften the words he'd already spoken, she said, "Because one of us had to say something, and you wouldn't."
Naegi hadn't expected the implied accusation in her reply. "Of course I wouldn't have said anything like that! She was grieving, and you made her feel worse!"
"Maybe," Kirigiri said. "But I was concerned with her actions, not her feelings. If a few words are all it takes to stop her from doing something stupid, would you want me to hesitate?"
"You didn't see how she looked after you left," Naegi said, the defeat on Ogami's face flashing before his eyes. "She just gave up!"
"She'd done that already," Kirigiri countered. "Even when Ogami claimed she wanted to fight, she intended to do so by letting herself be killed. When she struck against the mastermind, she meant for it to end with suicide. And even if she had the best of intentions, I don't think that the mastermind would let her die a martyr. They'd twist her death and turn it against us somehow – and we can't afford to give the mastermind that kind of weapon at this point."
"So – you really think that what you said to Ogami is true?" Naegi asked. "You think that the mastermind would try to say that – that I was the culprit? That I drove her to it?"
An involuntary shudder rocked through him at the thought, like something cold and slimy had dropped unexpectedly against the back of his neck. If Ogami had killed herself after talking to him – well, it would be all too easy to blame himself for something like that.
But Kirigiri shook her head. "Not that specifically. Your words certainly weren't having a very positive effect, considering her mental state – but that alone wouldn't make you a culprit. You would have had to intend to drive her to suicide, and that would be extremely difficult for even the mastermind to prove. I just used it as an example that might get through to her."
"So you don't think it's true." Naegi frowned. "You used me as your example because you thought it would upset Ogami the most, even though it was a lie. I – I don't think I like that you did that."
Kirigiri gave him another long look at that, and Naegi wished forlornly that he could read at least a little of her expressions. Her intense scrutiny left him pinned like a bug on a microscope, all his thoughts and emotions plain for her to pick apart – but he couldn't tell anything about her in turn, not unless she let him. Had his words made her angry, or was she softening towards his arguments? Nothing in her expression gave him a hint either way.
"Some lies aren't meant to deceive," Kirigiri said at last. "Sometimes a smaller lie can reveal a bigger truth."
Naegi frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I didn't want Ogami to kill herself," Kirigiri said. "Not even if she herself believes she wants to do it. And so I said what I had to at the time. If my methods were unduly cruel, I can apologize later."
Naegi nodded slowly. "I think you should – and I will, too, if you think that what I was saying was only making things worse. We can't let her feel like she's alone, not after Asahina."
"All right," Kirigiri agreed with an indifferent shrug. "But not until she's managed to get ahold of herself again." She turned back to the hall. "And there's something else we need to address before we worry about that."
Naegi wasn't entirely sure that the issue was resolved – but it sounded like Kirigiri had said everything she intended to say on the subject. "You mean – exploring the rest of the school?"
"That's right." Kirigiri started walking again, and Naegi had to strain to keep up even though she slowed her pace to little more than a stroll. "The fourth floor had a blocked set of stairs, so I think we can assume there's a new area available to us again."
"Right." Naegi tried not to sigh at the thought of climbing all the way up the many flights of stairs to the newly-opened fifth floor.
When they reached the first floor's stairway entrance, Kirigiri paused. "If you aren't up to it, perhaps you should wait down here."
It was a tempting thought. Even that first staircase seemed to loom like an unscalable mountain. And really, was there even anything that he could find up there that would be worth the exhaustion he knew he'd be inflicting on himself for trying to climb it? It would only be new murder methods and questions without answers, if the last four floors were anything to go by.
But – no. Naegi shook himself. He couldn't let himself think that way. If he just decided that there wouldn't be anything worthwhile and gave up without looking, then he'd definitely never find anything. He couldn't stop trying – especially not when Ogami was so close to breaking from despair.
And besides, if there really was a new area of the school open, then he was sure that Togami would already be up there, investigating it for any useful information. When Togami had wanted to avoid him in the past, Naegi hadn't been able to find the heir at all – but now, at least, he had a pretty good idea of where Togami might be. Maybe if he did manage to make it up to the fifth floor, he'd be able to find an opportunity to talk to the other boy, just for a minute or two.
Naegi looked back at Kirigiri, setting his shoulders with determination. "I don't want to wait," he told her, trying to sound as confident as he could.
She shrugged. "All right, then."
Without another word, she began climbing the stairs, leaving Naegi to trail behind.
